Archives: farmers market

We just returned home from our trip to California and it was a food fiasco out there – in a good way! Our whole trip was 10 days long and we drove down the coast from Napa to Los Angeles. In each place we went, we used YELP to find wonderful restaurants – what an amazing website!!

I was completely surprised to see how many places in California were gluten free friendly and more importantly they actually knew what it meant to be gluten free and how to deal with me. That’s not something that I see frequently here in NYC and I was very pleasantly surprised. I wonder why restaurants here are not as well versed…? Any ideas?

The food was SO fresh it was almost bursting in our mouths. We went to an incredible farmers market in San Francisco on Saturday and I was shocked to see the quality, knowledge, friendliness, and uniqueness of all the vendors and their products.

They had heirloom tomatoes that literally tasted like basil and no they were not mixed with anything – it was simply fresh soil.

I also bought salt infused with lavender and one infused with rosemary – amazing flavors!

There were all different types of food stalls, including a vegan table with all sorts of interesting smoothies, sushi, and incredible flavors.

In a nutshell, Chad and I were both completely impressed with the quality and care that people take with their food out in Cali. We only wish that New York restaurants will catch on really soon because it’s a huge gap in the market. Bring on the local, organic and deliciousness of our east coast produce. I know it’s available, why isn’t it on our restaurants tables? No I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for fresh food at a place like Blue Hill Farm when Californians have it so easy right down their street.

Why is it necessary that all the “special” a.k.a. FRESH food is offered in the trendy, overly priced restaurants? I would love to understand. Thoughts?

Only in California!!

Incredible Colors

Me tasting "basil" heirloom tomatoes

Amherst, MA farmers market

This weekend my fiance and I went up to Amherst, MA for the weekend. It’s amazing traveling up to MA from NYC where everywhere you turn is cement buildings and pavement. Up there it’s all grass, trees and most importantly fresh air!

I think it’s so important to take a mini vacation from anywhere you are – just to get a change of pace and away from all the pollution.

While we were there we encountered lots of fresh, local produce and we were lucky enough to experience the local farmers market. What an experience the market was! I felt so inspired while walking past all the stands filled with fruit that was picked early that morning and all the other fresh goodies that these local vendors were selling. I was inspired to continue my streak of eating healthy and my eyes widened as I listened to how these farmers picked the fruit that was now sitting on the table right in front of my nose.

I got to thinking about the differences between local and organic produce. One would think that local produce would definitely be the first choice but here’s the debate – local doesn’t mean that they don’t use pesticides, it just means that the food didn’t travel thousands of miles to get to your supermarket or farmers market. Organic means that there was no pesticides used whatsoever but it may have traveled a very long way just to get to you.

My first choice is always organic – even though it’s better for the environment to eat local, I’m conscious about my body first and the environment second.

It’s a toss up for many people though and it may be worth going out to your local farmers market and asking them how the food is grown and the amount of pesticides that are being used.

In any case, everyone should get out to their local farmers market just to meet the farmers and experience what fresh food really looks like. It’s also known that food retains the most nutrients right at the time that it’s picked – so buying local means that the food will probably have more nutrients BUT it may contain pesticides. Clearly the best choice would be to buy local AND organic but it’s very hard to find that combination. Keep your eyes out though; you will come across it at some point soon I’m sure.